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GARRISON IN HEAVEN. 



A BREAM. 



BY 



WILLIAM DENTON, 

Author op '* Our Planet," "The Soul of Things," "Is Darwin 
Right?" etc. 



WELLESLEY, MASS.: 

DENTON PUBLISHING COMPANY. 

1884. 



GAEEISOI^ 11^ HEAYEIsr. 

A DREAM. 



There are few persons in the United vStates who have 
not heard of freedom's champion, William Lloyd Garri- 
son. The slaveholder heard of him, and trembled with 
rage as he cursed him ; while the negro waiter behind his 
chair secretly blessed him. Every orthodox minister in 
the laud knew of him, and nearly all of them banned him ; 
for, said they, " He disturbs the church ; " while the poli- 
ticiaus with loud oaths denounced him as a disturber of 
the State. Wliatever disturbed humanity, Garrison 
wished to disturb ; and whatever he believed would assist 
humanity he was ready to help. The God, the Bible, and 
the Constitution that upheld slavery, were idols to him 
which it was the duty of a true man to dethrone, though 
all Christendom was on its knees before them. Claimed 
now by Christians as a true believer, because they think 
his life will add lustre to their waning cause, he had as 
little faith in the divinity of the Bible as had Thomas 
Paine : yet the man probably never lived who was more 
thoroughly and practically religious ; and, compared with 
him, Jesus the Jewish reformer was narrow and sellish. 

Jesus was a Jew ; and a Jew to him was a God's favor- 
ite, to be specially cared for. "Go not into the way 
of the Gentiles," is his command when he sends out hia 



6 GARRISON TN HEAVEN. 

disciples to preach. Even the Samaritans were apparently 
too heretical to be the objects of his bountj^ ; and he says, 
" Into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not." Garri- 
son's benevolence knew no boundaries : color and creed 
were alike unnoticed by him when he saw the man in 
bonds behind them. Jesus was continually anxious that 
people should believe on him. In substance this is the 
burden of his cry, "Heaven is his who believes on me; 
and hell is for him who rejects me." Garrison seemed 
to lose all sense of himself in his zeal for the bondman. 
" Think what you please of me, but let the slave go free." 
This represents the spirit of his whole public life. Jesus 
found slavery in Judaea, and, as far as we can tell, never 
said a word directly in opposition to it : Garrison never 
felt free while a slave was bound, and gave his life for 
their welfare. He was as much higher than Jesus as the 
steeples are higher than the churches. New England, to 
the slave, had a better climate than Florida, because his 
iiome was in it ; and Boston is sacred forever, because 
here he lived and worked. With his earthly career all 
are familiar: it is of his career since he left the earth 
that I wish more particularly to treat. 

I am a great dreamer. I cannot sleep, even for a 
moment, without dreaming ; and, although my dreams are 
generally composed of incongruous and unmeaning stuff, 
some of them are, I think, worthy of notice. Of this 
character is the one I am going to tell you. 

In my dream I stood by the bedside of the dying Gar- 
lison, and watched his spirit as it ebbed and flowed, like 
the pulsing tide, in its efforts to free itself from the no 
longer needed body ; and saw the smile of satisfaction, 
alternating with a look of regret, as he felt the freedom 
of his new existence, and saw the sorrow of the survivors, 



A DREAM. 7 

Miiny were the objects of interest that detained him in 
Boston, and near his dearest friends. He attended the 
funeral, and heard the eloquent oration of Phillips ; and, 
having learned to move with readiness at will, he visited 
the South, and left his blessing in many a negro's hut. 
In Kansas he looked with interest upon the dusky South- 
em emigrants, who, in pursuit of their full liberty as citi- 
zens, had braved the fury of the northern storms. I 
followed him to Hayti, to England, to Liberia, and then 
to Cuba, and saw him rejoice as he beheld the promise of 
a free world. 

At length his spirit, by superior attraction, was drawn 
up, up, till heaven in its transcendent beauty appeared 
before him ; its mansions towering like lofty mountain- 
peaks of inconceivable height, their crystal windows reflect- 
ing light as though they were setting suns. He seemed 
in no hurry to enter, but stood and admired the shining 
towers and glittering domes, the polished jasper wall 
stretching away till it seemed but a line, the rainbow-hued 
foundations of precious stones, but, most of all, the mag- 
nificent gates, two hundred and sixty-four feet high, and 
each made of a single pearl, ^ that shone with all the 
colors and all the brightness of a gorgeous sunset sky. 

At last I saw him apply for admission where sat Peter 
with the key at his girdle. 

" What is thy name? " asked Peter. 

" William Lloyd Garrison," said he in a manly way. 

*'I have heard of thee," said Peter; "and, if thou 
hadst applied but yesterda}', there would have been no 
admittance for thee. But we have just received advices 
from the Methodist preachers' meeting in Boston, and 
read the laudatory resolutions passed in thy honor, and 

1 Eev xxi. 17-21. 



8 GARRISON IN HEAVEN. 

thou art admitted.'* And, turning to an angel who stood 
near, he said, — 

"Guide, show him the place, and give him any infor- 
mation that he may desire." 

Not a word said Garrison. He seemed overpowered by 
a sense of the peculiarity of his situation, and was dis- 
posed, I thought, for a time to let matters take their own 
course. 

Accompanied by the guide, he now moved through tho 
gold-paved streets of the city of God. He looked up at 
the mansions, story above story, till, as his eyes ascended 
to the fifteen-hundred-mile heights,^ I could see they were 
strained by the effort, and he said, — 

' ' How the people ever climb to those upper stories 1 
cannot imagine : it is as much as I can do to look up 
there." 

" We have ready means for ascending," said the guide, 
*' as you will see by and by." 

On they went, part of the way along the banks of 
the River of Life, of whose water Garrison drank most 
heartily ; and then he ate of the fruit of the Tree of Life, 
which grew on its banks, and this he seemed to relish. 
And I noticed, that, as fast as the fruit was picked, 
new fruit made its appearance upon the branches. At 
times they walked as an ordinary man would walk : at 
other times, when they wished to move rapidly, impelled 
by will, they went with a velocity that could outspeed the 
wind, — through extended streets and splendid avenues, 
across beautiful parks, past magnificent temples, meeting 
and passing on the way millions of persons, into whose 

• " And the city licth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth : 
and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length 
and tho breudlh and the heiglit of it are equul." — Rev. xxi. 16. 



A DREAM. 9 

faces Giirrison looked with what I thought to be consider- 
able anxiety. At last they came near the heart of the 
city, to the shore of the beautiful lake, which the guide 
called the Sea of Glass. But I found that the light 
reflected from the mirror-like bosom of this sea was pain- 
ful to eyes unaccustomed to its peculiarities. Here were 
vessels that seemed to be made of pearl, constantly going 
out across the sea, and returning, without sails, or any 
visible propelling power, yet moving with very great 
velocity. They stepped into one, and in less than an 
hour they were on the farther side. Here Garrison found 
himself before the throne of God, though still at a dis- 
tance of several miles. It was some time before his eyes 
could become accustomed to the excessive light ; for il 
was more brilliant than a hundred aggregated suns. 
Music such as mortal ears have never heard made the 
air delicious for the spirit to breathe. It overcame Gar- 
rison, so that he had to sit down for a while to recover his 
captive senses. 

From where they sat no man could see with distinctness 
what was immediately around the throne ; but Garrison 
was delighted to find that his eyes were telescopic, and he 
could see very near to it four strange beasts,^ that no 
scientist might name. One of them was like a lion , 
another resembled a calf ; the body of a third was as 
beastly as any, but he had the face of a man ; and the 
fourth was like an eagle. They had each three pairs of 
wmgs, which they used as fans ; and, what was strangest 
of all, they were full of eyes before and behind. With 
voices more shrill than the steam-whistle of a locomotive, 
they cried out every few minutes in concert, '' Holy, holy, 
holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is tc 
come." ^ 

» Rev. iv. 6. « Rev. iv. 8. 



10 GARRISON IN HEAVEN. 

Next to the beasts sat twenty-four elders, clothed in 
white, with crowns of gold upon their heads ; and next to 
them were one hundred and forty-four thousand men, 
whom the guide called virgin-shakers, "for," said he, 
" they never defiled themselves with women." ^ 

Outside of that circle were "ten thousand times ten 
thousand " angels, all in white ; who, when the beasts had 
ceased, sang, and plaj^ed upon golden ha^^ps, and made 
most melodious music, that could be heard a hundred miles 
away. 

Above the throne was a gorgeous rainbow ; ^ yet noth- 
ing could be seen to produce it, and at this Garrison won- 
dered. The guide, however, remarked that it was but a 
trifle, and that he would see infinitely more wonderful 
things before he had gone the round of the Celestial City. 
From the throne proceeded at times vivid flashes of light- 
ning and heaven-shaking thunders,^ that made even the 
harps tremble in the hands of the players ; and then dense 
clouds of smoke, so that the throne looked for a while 
like a volcano. I heard Garrison ask the meaning of 
this ; and he was told that this occurred when He who 
sat upon the throne was particularly angry, ' ' and is not a 
very unusual occurrence, either," the guide added. 

"But does he sit upon the throne all the time?" in- 
quired Garrison : " if he does, I think he may be excused 
for being occasionally out of humor." 

" Oh, no ! " was the reply. " Do you see those seven 
lamps before the throne ? ' ' 

"I do," said William. 

"Well, those are the seven spirits of God. Seven, 
Vou know, is a sacred number. God rested on the seventh 
day : there are seven churches and seven golden candle- 

^ Rev. xiv. 4. 2 Rev. iv. 3. s Ilov. iv. 5. 



A DREAM. 11 

sticks. You road in the Bible of the seven angeis, 
seven seals, seven plagues, seven vials ; and all these are 
emblematic of the seven spirits of God, who take turns 
in sitting upon the throne and representing him, each one 
occupying the throne for about four hours at a time. 
Otherwise, not even a God could stand the continual 
music of the ascended saints, and the prayers of the 
unascended saints, forever rismg." 

"Well, William, what do you think of the place?" 
inquired the guide after a pause. 

"It is very beautiful," said Garrison; "there is no 
denying that. And the music, too, is very fine, though I 
dislike those beastl}" noises ; but I do not see a single 
familiar face, and the most of those that I do see are far 
from being interesting. We have met millions since we 
started, and I haye peered into every countenance ; but 
except a few Boston divines, who — excuse me — are, I 
think, little credit to the place, I have not seen a face 
that I ever saw before. These magnificent l^uildings, and 
golden streets, and crowns and harps, may be all very 
well ; but it will take something more than these to make 
heaven for me." 

"Oh! you will make new acquaintances, and be verj 
much at home by and by," I heard the guide sa,y. 
"Here, take this harp, and join in the song of the re- 
deemed." 

" 1 would give a thousand harps for the sight of a 
friendly face," said Garrison ; and I marked the discon- 
solate look that clouded his noble countenance. 

" What friends had j^ou? " asked the guide. 

"Well, George Thompson, who left us a little while 
ago. Where is he ? " 



l3 GARRISON IX HEAVEN. 

''1 think I know whom you mean," was the reply. 
*' He was a Spmtualist, was he not? " 

"He was," answered Garrison. 

"I know him," the guide continued; "once a true 
believer. But he became a pestilent heretic, a companion 
of infidels, and this is no place for such as he." 

"Where is he, then?" inquired Garrison. 

"There are but two places for departed spirits," was 
Uie answer. "He believed not in the Lord Jesus as a 
divine Saviour ; and he has gone with those that believe 
and love a lie, and where the fire is never quenched." 

"George Thompson in hell?" exclaimed Garrison. 
" Then I am certainly in the wrong place." Sadder than 
ever grew his face ; and he said, " I wish you would show 
me where Theodore Parker's mansion is." 

"Theodore Parker has no mansion here," said the 
guide. "I remember his name well. We had prayers 
from the saints of Boston, that came up like a cloud, for 
God to stop his mouth, to put a hook in his jaws, and cut 
short his career ; and as soon as he appeared, which was 
not long, we hurried him off." 

" Where? tell me where ! " Garrison excitedly said. 

"To hell, of course," replied the guide. 

When Garrison heard this, his patience was exhausted, 
and he said, "I wish, then, you would hurry me there 
100 ; for I would rather be in hell with Parker than in 
heaven with any of the company I have seen yet. ' ' 

" Hush, hush ! " said the guide. " You will feel very 
differently after a while. I had some sucli feelings when 
I first came to this place, and found that my wife and 
more than half my children were in hell : but I have 
become perfectly reconciled to it ; it is the natural effec* 
of the climate of this place." 



A DREAM. 13 

*'God forbid that I should ever become reconciled to 
any sucli thing!" and as Garrison said this, he knit liis 
brows, and I could see a stern resolve springing up in his 
benevolent soul. Then turning to the guide, he said, '• I 
wish I could have a talk with my old friend Henry C. 
Wright, who was a hero in the antislavery cause when 
Christian ministers were cowards, almost to a man. He 
must be here." 

" There is no Henry C. "Wright in this place," the 
guide replied. "Henry C. Wright was an infidel. He 
once wrote a pamphlet against the Bible. He was a de- 
spiser of the blood of the everlasting covenant, a wicked 
reviler of Jehovah ; and his portion is with the unbe- 
lievers." 

"Henry C. "Wright and Parker and Thompson all in 
hell!" cried Garrison. "Let me go there too. I can 
never be happy in this place while they are in misery : 
that is impossible." 

"I then saw — for in my dream I could read his 
thoughts — that he was thinking who there could . be in 
heaven that he would care to see ; and his mind at last 
rested upon "Washington. " I had no great affection for 
him when on earth," he said to himself ; " but it ser ms to 
me now that a sight of his calm face, and a few words 
exchanged with him, would really do me good. Where is 
Washington?" he inquired. 

" We have several persons of that name here," was 
the answer. "Which of them is it about whom you in- 
quire?" 

"George Washington, the first President of the United 
States," was Garrison's reply. "Heaven would hardly 
be heaven to Americans, if he were absent." 

"We recognize no earthly boundaries here," the guide 



14 GA-RPvISON TN PTEAYEN. 

said, " and we have DO special sj-mpathy with republics 
George Washington has gone where the rebels go." [Gai« 
rison shuddered.] '' Do you not know that ' the powers 
that be are ordained of God,' and he that ' resisteth the 
power, resisteth the ordinance of God : and they that re- 
sist shall receive to themselves damnation ' ? ^ Washington 
resisted that power, and he has his reward. We have 
had one rebellion in heaven,^ and we do not want another.. 
Besides that, Washington was at heart as great an unbe- 
liover as Voltaire. His craft availed him on the earth., 
but'here it is powerless.'* 

*'I suppose, then," said Garrison, "that Jefferson. 
Adams, Franklin, and Thomas Paine, those grand Revo 
lutionary heroes, are all there with Washington too." 

"Certainly!" and the guide smiled as he said it 
"What would be the use of hell, if such men as thes(» 
were not put there? They were all infidels, openly or a. 
heart, and trampled upon God's divine word ; and now they 
reap as they sowed. If you would like to see those men 
you have been talking about, I can show them to you." 
And he took him to one side of the city, where there waa 
a magnificent silver stairway, extending to the top of the 
city wall. The wall was about a quarter of a mile broad, 
and on the outer edge was a sort of balcony from which 
could be obtained a magnificent prospect of hell. Here 
many of the saints were walking, and enjo^^ing the view. 
■' Whenever any one becomes at all dissatisfied with our 
place," said the guide, " we bring him up here, and give 
him a sight of the other place, which Is gf^nerally all that 
is needed to make him perfectly content." 

By this time they had arrived at the very brink, and 
Garrison with protruding eyes was staring into the in- 

' Rom. xiii. 1, 2. 



A DREAM. Ifi 

fcrnal pit. It was a sight to chill the soul. It appeared 
like an iiLmense volcanic crater, over whose boiling sur- 
face hovered blue flames, and smoke ascended continually. 
To an earthly eye, no being the size of a man could b( 
discerned ; but angel eyes could distinguish the forms of 
the lost as they sank and rose in what appeared like a 
boiling caldron ; while the wail of the damned, loudei 
than the roar of a tornado, made even the wall of heaver* 
tremble to its foundation. 

'' Look closely," said the guide, " and you will see some 
of the men of whom you have been inquiring;" and ir 
my dream it seemed as if my sight and hearing were keer 
as an angel's, and I could discern Thompson, Parker, and 
Wright, Jefferson, Paine, and Franklin, as with imploring 
faces they looked up from that fiery sea of agony, and J 
heard the words, — 

" How long, O Lord ! how long? " 

Then arose a sound, hollow and penetrating, that echoec 
from the caverns of the damned, and it said, — 

' ' Forever and forever : my eternal wrath is the fuel, 
and the fire can never be quenched." 

Louder rose the wail of the lost, so that it made even 
the guide shudder, and he wished to go. But Garrison 
stood as if rooted to the spot, with staring eyes looking 
into the den of woe. And to my horror, as I looked also, 
I saw Agassiz and Humboldt : there was no mistaking 
their well-marked countenances. Garrison did not seem 
to know Humboldt ; but with Agassiz he was well ac- 
quainted. 

'• Good God ! " said he to the guide, " what had Agassiz 
done, that he should be there? Heaven cannot afford to 
lose such a man as he." 

"He is not there so much on account of what he had 



16 G VKEISON LN HEAVEIT. 

done," the guide replied, "as on account of what he had 
left undone. Such men as Agassiz are too proud of their 
scientific attainments to humble themselves, and become 
beggars at the foot of the cross. Agassiz not only failed 
to accept the only terms by which a sinner can be saved, 
but he also denied the existence of Adam ; and he who 
does that, denies the necessity of the Saviour, and turn?i 
his back upon the only friend a man can have between 
earth and hell. Science is, next to Satan, the deadly foe 
of heaven ; and where that flourishes revivals languish, and- 
scoffers abound." 

As they stood talking, lo ! I saw that some one in hell 
had recognized Garrison's face ; and quickly the news was 
conveyed from one to another, till the sunshine of hope 
rolled back the clouds of darkness from the face of the 
infernal pit, and I heard the lost souls say to one another, 
" If Garrison is in heaven, there is hope for us yet." 

"Is there no way," said Garrison, as they retraced 
their steps, " by which these poor souls can be saved? I 
would willingly give m^^self to save them." 

" Such feelings as yours are manifest in some when 
they first come here, before they have become thoroughly 
imbued with a heavenly spirit," I heard the guide say. 
"No: there is no Saviour for the lost. Hell's night is 
followed by no day, and its sky knows no star. Him 
against whom heaven's gates are closed, they are closed 
forever." 

Garrison was silent for some time ; but at last he said, 
"Tell me who is in heaven: perhaps I maybe able to 
find some old acquaintance yet." 

" Well," said the guide, " Abram is here." 

" I am glad to hear you say that," said Garrison ; and 
bis face was light with joy for the first time since he had 



A DEEAIsr. 17 

eutered the place. "I am glad to hear that ; for, of all 
the Presidents of the United States, the one I should like 
best to see is Abram Lincoln." 

'' Abram Lincoln!" said the guide: "that is not the 
man at all. There is no Abram Lincoln here. I mean 
Abraham, the father of the faithful, and the friend of 
God." 

" What? " exclaimed Garrison : " you don't mean that 
slaveholding and slave-breeding old sinner, who turned 
his wife Hagar into the wilderness to perish? " 

" Certainly I do. But that is not a proper way to speak 
of the ancient patriarch." 

"But Abraham Lincoln was an infinitely better man 
than he." 

' ' I dare say, ' ' was the guide's answer. ' ' But admission 
to heaven depends upon fitness, not upon goodness. He 
that believeth is saved, not he that doeth. You may 
remember a beautiful couplet that the saints below some- 
times sing : — 

' All the fitness He requireth 
Is to feel your need of Him.' 



And another : 



* Lay your deadly doing down, 
Down at Jesus' feet.' 



There are persons here whose relationship the Devil would 
blush to acknowledge, but who, by faith in Jesus at the 
last hour, nay, the last moment, have been dipped in the 
blood-cleansing fountain, and obtained an entrance through 
the pearly gates. » Isaac and Jacob are here, Moses and 
Samson, Samuel and David, Solomon and Jehu, Constan- 
tine the Great and Henry the P^ighth, Calvin who mur- 



T8 GARRISON^ IN HEAVEN. 

dered Servetiis, Bloody Mary who burnt the Protestants^ 
and equally Bloody Elizabeth who burnt the Catliolics„ 
Tliey were admitted, not because their lives were patternji 
of perfection, but because they exercised saving faith in 
a Redeemer to come, or One who had come and prepared 
mansions for all who should trust in him to the utmost." 

"If those only come to heaven," said Garrison, " who 
have saving faith in Jesus, your company must be ver;;* 
small, compared with the mass of mankind. Are thesui 
all that are allowed to enter heaven ? ' ' 

"Certainly not," replied the guide: " you forget ! al! 
the babies come to heaven." 

" Oh, the babies !" said Garrison. " I had not though 
of them." 

"Yes: all the babies are in heaven," continued thi 
guide. " They never sinned away their day of grace ; they 
never chose the broad road to ruin ; and Jesus washeo 
away the original sin which they had contracted from 
Adam, their federal head. Thanks be to God, in his un- 
speakable mercy, all babies, even the children of hereticy 
and the worst of sinners, are admitted to heaven." 

But Garrison did not seem to join in this thanksgiving : 
he was in deep thought. " But where are their mothers ? " 
said he. 

" Well, some of them are here, — perhaps two or three 
out of a thousand." 

" Where are the rest? " inquired Garrison. 

" To tell 3^ou the truth,'' was the answer, " they are in 
that pit we were looking at a while ago." 

" The poor babies ! " I heard Garrison say in a tone of 
pity. 

"Oh well!" said the guide, " our God takes care of 
the little ones." 



A DREA]SI. 19 

*' Yes," said Garrison. "But God is a He; only a 
father : no one can care for a little one like its motber. 
But you certainly have others in heaven. I see many 
grown persons here with very childish ways, but they are 
not babies." 

"Oh, I know whom you mean!'* said the 2:uide. 
" Those are the imbeciles, idiots, and persons generall}^ of 
weak intellect. They never had intelligence enough to 
reject the Saviour, or to deny the Lord that bought them. 
and hence they are all here, of every nation and of all 
time ; and you may therefore well imagine that idiots con- 
stitute a large proportion of our population." 

' ' It looks like that, ' ' said Garrison. ' * And now I think 
of it, you must have some murderers," he added. " I 
have seen several persons that look to me as if they must 
have been very vicious characters on earth." 

" That is true," the guide replied. " We have a large 
proportion of murderers, in fact, nearly all the men and 
fvomen that have been hung for murder in Christian lands. 
JTou know, when men are condemned to die, and all hope 
of earthly aid is gone, they naturally tui'n to the Friend of 
sinners, who can wash the vilest clean. They receive an 
application to their souls of the blood of Him who was hung 
for them ; and thus, when the rope is placed around their 
necks, and the platform falls, they swing into the arms of 
the Savioui', who has said that whosoever cometh to him 
he will in no wise cast out." 

" Yes," said Gamson. " I have heard of being ' jerked 
to Jesus ; ' but I never expected to see so many who had 
gone through the operation. It seems to me, after all, 
that you have very few here except those who are not 
worth damning." 

I thought the guide would certainly resent this : but he 



20 GARKISON IN HEAVEN. 

bit his lip, and blandly replied, " It must be confessed 
that intellectual men, in the pride of their mental attain- 
ments, generally discard the simple ])lan of salvation, 
which is accepted readily by babes in knowledge, and 
those from whom all earthly hope has fled." 

By this time they had arrived within a few miles of the 
throne ; and I saw in my dream that the guide conducted 
him through the innumerable company, past the hundred, 
and forty-four thoitsand, the elders, and the beasts, first 
providing him with a shade for his eyes, so that he could 
bear the dazzling glory that rayed from the throne. Back 
of the throne was a large tube with a trumpet-shaped 
mouth, immediately beneath the ear of Jehovah. 

" You will find something there that will interest you,*' 
shouted the guide as he pointed to it, and indicated that. 
Garrison should stand nearer to the mouth of the tube. 
At first it was like listening to the howl of a tempest. 

" AVhat can that be? " asked Garrison. " It is a more 
confused noise than that of all the performers and the 
beasts together." 

"That," replied the guide, "is the prayer-tube, by 
which all the prayers of the world are conducted to heaven, 
■ — from the scream of a new-born babe in Christ to the 
bawling of a hoary revivalist." 

I could see that Garrison was most intently listening ; 
but it was long before he could distinguish any thing. At 
length, jast as we distinguish in a band the music of any 
particular instrument, so I perceived that Garrison was 
able to distinguish the various petitions as they came up. 
There were prayers for rain, and prayers for fine weather, 
from the same district. The Roman Catholics were pray- 
ing for money to build colleges, and establish schools ; 
and Protestants, for money to send missionariefi among the 



A DREAM. 21 

Catholics, to turn them from the error of their ways. " O 
Lord, save thy ancient people the Jews, and lead them 
to see that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life," carae 
up from a pious Christian ; and, from a Jewish rabbi, " O 
Lord, Jehovah, God of our fathers, turn thou the hearts 
of Christians back to thee, and show them the wickedness 
of walking after the impostor of Galilee." The cries of 
temperance people came up, " No rum ; " and the cries of 
thirsty drunkards, "More whiskey." Ambitious officers 
were calling for war ; and the voices of the benevolent 
could be heard imploring for peace. Old maids were pray- 
ing for husbands, husbands for tlie death of their terma- 
gant wives, and wives, in their turn, for the conversion of 
their drunken, tobacco-fuddled husbands. " Moderate the 
weather, O God, I beseech thee," prayed a broken-hearted 
widow, " or my little ones will perish, fori have no money 
to buy fuel." — " Give us a cold, bitter winter," came up 
from many a colliery district, " that coal may rise in price, 
the miners be well paid, ,and our families saved from want." 
— " Give us dry weather, that I may save my tobacco," 
prayed a Connecticut farmer: "it is all that I have to 
depend upon for the support of my family." — " God blast 
the tobacco, wherever it grows," cried an iconoclastic 
reformer, "and let this devil's weed go to the only lit 
place for it, where the smoke ascendeth forever." One 
prayer in a million or so received some attention ; but 
the rest passed off like extra steam from the safety-valve 
of a locomotive. As they stood there, "God give us G rant 
for President," came out in thunder-tones; "he alone 
can save us from anarchy, and a worse than French revo 
hition ; " and then, " God save us from a third term ; for 
it means death to our republic, an aristocracy, like that 
of England, feeding on the vitals of the nation, and a 



22 GAERISON IN HEAVEN". 

peasantry, like that of Ireland, forever on the verge of 
famine." — " Make bare thine arm, O Lord ! " 

''That," said Garrison, " must be from some Methodist 
prayer-meeting ; for most of the Methodists seem to think 
that God is a kind of big, burly brother, who will fight 
their battles if they can only induce him to strip for tlie 
encounter." 

''Come down, O God, and get thyself a great name." 
When this came out, Garrison could not help smiling, and 
the guide laughed outright. 

" Now, where do you suppose that comes from? " asked 
the guide. And, without waiting for a reply, he said, " I 
will show you ; " and touching Garrison's eyes, they fol- 
lowed a line, which in my dream mine also followed, down 
to earth, that led to the speaker, who was in a small meet- 
ing-house in a Kansas village. 

' ' The idea of our God going down there to get a great 
name ! " said the guide with an ill-disguised sneer. 

They now walked about very near the throne, looking at 
the singers and players, and examining the instruments. 

"Who is that red- faced old man," inquired Garrison, 
" with a crown on his head, and a long white beard, who 
plays on an exceedingly tall harp, with a great deal of 
spirit and admirable skill? " 

I was not surprised to hear the reply. " That is King 
David. He may well be a good player : he was not a poor 
performer when he came here, and he has been playing 
over since, — now nearly three thousand years." 

Near him was a brawny fellow, realizing my idea of a 
giant, who was beating an enormous drum. He wore for 
a breastpin a large golden jaw-bone ; and, what was still 
more remarkable, the drumsticks were also in the shape 
of jaw-bones, and with these he was lustily beating time 



A DREAM. 23 

to the imisic of the " sweet singer of Israel." This I 
found was Samson, who did more with a jaw-bone than 
any other man could have done with a Winchester rifle. 

In the same neighborhood were Rahab the harlot, who 
allowed the people of her city to be butchered, and never 
gave a word of warning ; Jael, the wife of Heber the 
Kenite, who with hammer and nail smote the confidinsr 
Sisera ; Judith, who cut off the head of Holof ernes ; Bath- 
sheba the adulteress ; and the much married Solomon, he:r 
son. These were in fact, I learned, among the chie/ 
aristocracy of the celestial circles. 

" Well," said Garrison, in a more cheerful tone than ]( 
had heard before since he entered, " if I am going t<i 
remain here, there are several questions that I should likn 
to ask you about the place and people. In the first place, 
I should like to know why you have gates and walls here 
Walls and gates are either to keep evil-doers out, or t<i 
keep evil-doers in : now, which is it in this case ? ' ' 

" You act the most strangely," said the guide, " mak<» 
the oddest remarks, and ask the most singular questions, 
of any man that I ever accompanied around here. But 
Peter told me to give you any information you might 
desire ; and if he has no objection, I do not see that 1 
ought to have any. Well, you may know that we once 
had a war here. You had a war in the United States : 
but yours was only a drop ; ours, an almost infinite ocean. 
The arch-rebel, as you may have heard, was overcome, 
cast down into the fiery abyss, and then the walls were 
erected, and the gates placed." 

"Are you, then, afraid," inquired Garrison, "thai 
Satan will force an entrance into heaven? " 

" I can hardly say that," was the answer; " but it ia 
best to be prepared for the worst. The population of hell 



24 GARRISON IN HEAVEN. 

is very much greater than that of heaven. Beelzebub 
gets ten to our one, and I must say many of them are 
people of courage and genius. He receives no children, 
no idiots, no people of weak intellect. A man must have 
some knowledge to sin, and to be a great sinner requires 
considerable ability. As a consequence of this, the 
strength of our enemy increases with fearful rapidity ; and 
if we should have another war here (which is not impossi- 
ble), with an enemy within, and this terrible enemy with- 
out, the result might be disastrous." 

Garrison's face beamed with delight as he heard this 
confession. 

"I do not know," added the guide, "but that in self- 
protection we may be obliged to be less stringent about 
admitting souls here ; and your presence is, perhaps, some 
evidence that we are commencing to make such a change." 

" I should like to inquire where the women are," said 
Garrison : " I do not see nearly as many as I supposed I 
should." 

"This is a very large place," was the guide's reply, 
" and you have not begun to see what is here yet. You 
must remember, our city is fifteen hundred miles long, 
fifteen hundred miles wide, and fifteen hundred miles 
liigh : it contains millions of mansions, and billions of 
rooms. There are more children here than persons of 
any other class, (half the children, even in civilized coun- 
tries, die before they are ten years of age), and since 
there is no growtli here, for you know ' as the tree falls so 
it lies,' we have thousands of millions of babies, which 
require the attention of a great many women, millions of 
whom, and especially maiden women, are thus consi;antly 
employed. Having no husbands to serve on earth, they 
served the Lord ; and when they had money they geLciaUj 



A DREAM. 25 

left it to his cause ; and heaven opens v/icle its portals to 
them. Here they can gratify their lovo of music and their 
love of children. Many of them pass alternately from the 
nursery to the public choir." 

' ' Doubtless many of the maiden ladies marry after 
they get here," remarked Garrison. 

"Oh, no!" said the guide, "nothing of that kind. 
You know Jesus said, ' In heaven they neither marry nor 
are given in marriage.* There are so many women here, 
and so few men, that, if some could marry, the rest would 
be dissatisfied, and we should have a hell set up in 
heaven : little unpleasantnesses occur, even, as it is." 

"Another question," said Garrison. "I admired the 
magnificent gate at the entrance of heaven ; and what I 
want to know is, where the pearls are obtained of which 
the gates of heaven are made." 

' ' The pearls of which the gates are made, are obtained 
from oysters which we find in the Sea of Glass. AVe call 
it the Sea of Glass, because its surface is forever unruffled. 
With light forever shining, the oysters grow to a size of 
which you can form but little conception. Some of the 
largest are as much as a mile long, and have shells from 
ten to twenty feet thick. When we wish to open one, we 
erect large machines upon the shore, and watching a con- 
venient opportunity, when the animal opens its shell, we 
apply strong steel hooks which are attached to wire cables, 
and by continuous strain break the hinge, and open the 
tjliell ; and our divers bring to the surface the peai-ly 
treasures, which our artificers manufacture into tables, 
chairs, thrones for our many kings, ornaments for harps, 
and apply to various other uses. The empty shells are 
polished on the exterior, and made into pleasure-boats, in 
which the saints make daily excursions on the Sea o/ 



2G GARRISON i:n heaven. 

Glass. It was a boat of that kiud iu which we came 
over. ' ' 

"Oysters of that size," remarked GarrisoD, "must con- 
lain a great deal of meat. Do you make any use of 
that?" 

" Of course we make use of it, as you will see when 
you take your meals." 

" What ! do you take meals here? " 

" Why, certainly," was the answer. " Do you suppose 
that these people can sing and play forever without rest 
or food ? There are three relays of singers and players ; 
each being on duty about eight hours at a time, and 
without a moment's intermission. If they were to ceas( 
singing, chanting, or placing, even for an instant, it migh\ 
be very unpleasant ; for when the wind blows in a certain 
direction we should hear the howl of the damned with tod 
great distinctness for some of our fastidious people. O.i 
course, when one relay exchanges with the next, th(- 
singers are hungry as wolves, and are ready for a meal 
which is provided for them in the celestial restaurants 
03'ster-stews, such as you never dreamed of on earth 
delight the papillary nerves of the redeemed. For des- 
sert, fruit of the Tree of Life, and wine of the King- 
dom, are abundantly provided, after which the performers 
recreate for eight hours, sleep for eight hours, and are 
ready for duty again." 

' ' But I cannot see how you obtain fuel to cook for such 
i\ multitude," said Garrison. 

'' Well, we do not go far for fuel, I can assure 3'ou," 
was the reply. "Hell, the hottest of all places, is but a 
short distance from here ; and we utilize its heat iu a way 
that would interest j^ou. We have golden pipes, that can- 
not be destroyed ])y the sulphurous fumes, which convey 



A DREAM. 27 

Leal, from the lower part of hell, returning at a higher 
level ; and these supply our kitchens with all the heat that 
is necessary for culinary purposes. You have read in the 
Scriptures that God makes the wrath of man to praise 
him, and this is one way in which he accomplishes it. 
The wrath of man renders the fires of hell necessary, and 
by the heat of hell the meals are cooked for the saints 
who praise the Lord forever." 

' ' But in winter you must be uncomfortable here in the 
open air.'* 

'' There is no winter here." Said the guide, " the heat 
of hell tempers the climate so delightfully, we have ever- 
lasting spring, and flowers bloom continually. You have 
probably read those charming verses of the Christian 
poet, — 

" There everlasting sprhig abides, 
And never-withering flowers." 

That writer did not know, of course, that the heat of hell 
gives us this everlasting spring ; yet such is the fact. * ' 

" I should think that the saints who are on duty at 
night would not be so well satisfied." 

"But my dear fellow," said the guide, "there is no 
night here: the glory of God gives us everlasting day." 

"But even that," replied Garrison, "cannot be very 
pleasant when a person wishes to sleep." 

" We can readily make artificial night," he said. " You 
have noticed that the houses of our city are of immense 
height ; and the walls of the lower stories are of enormous 
thickness, to bear the superincumbent weight. We have, 
therefore, connected with all our mansions, dark lowei 
rooms, where one can sleep with great comfort ; for with 
non-conducting shutters we can keep out both the songa 



28 GARRISON IN HEAVEN. 

of heaven and the wailings of hell, and sleep in the great- 
est peace." 

" Where do these harps come from on which the people 
are playing?" inquired Garrison. 

"I will show 3^ou some day. We have a grand harp- 
factory, in which many thousands of hands are constantly 
employed. A great many harps are broken : millions are 
worn out by continual lingering. We melt up the gold 
attached to them, cast them over, refit them with new 
strings, and they are then ready for service again." 

" Then you have various employments in heaven." 

"Certainly," said the guide. '^IIow otherwise could 
we supply the needs of such a city as ours ? 1 find many 
saints come here witli very crude ideas of the actual con- 
dition of affairs. All are not employed in making music. 
We have many employments. Miners are constantly at 
work digging up gold. To keep our streets in good con- 
dition requires not a little. Cooks are preparing meals. 
Tailors and dressmakers arc fashioning clothes, and wash- 
ers renewing them. These robes so white are not made so 
without labor ; and, although you read that the robes are 
made white in the blood of the Lamb, the blood, as you 
may well suppose, does but a small part of the work. 
Then we have a great many jewellers, who are making 
crowns ; for we have a great many kings in heaven, 
though there is little to indicate it beyond the crowns they 
wear. A good deal of earthly pride clings to some of the 
saints, and they will have the crowns. If you like, I will 
take yon to the crown-room, and show you some that wo 
liave on hand." 

So he took him into a large room, where there were 
many crowns prepared for those who were considered 
worthy to wear them. It fairly blazed with the light 
reflected from the crowns and their jewels. 



A DREAM. 29 

"This is a babyish kind of business," said Garrison. 

" I dare say it seems so to you," said the guide, " and 
I have no great fancy for it myself ; but the fact is, we 
have a vast number of babyish people in heaven, and tney 
must be gratified." 

At this instant a ringing clatter in the direction of the 
throne broke upon the music-laden air in painful discord. 
As Garrison turned to ascertain the cause, I also turned ; 
and, behold, the seats of the twenty-four elders were empty, 
and the elders themselves were down on the golden pave- 
ment, scrambling for the scattered jewels of their twenty- 
four golden crowns, which they stated W throw down in 
response to the cry of the beasts. When Garrison belicld 
this scene, and remembered, that, according to the stat<^- 
ment of the Revelator,^ this performance has been re- 
peated, day and night, through unnumbered ages, he said 
excitedly, — 

''' Babyish *' indeed ! Such conduct is inexpressibly 
puerile! But is there never any quiet in heaven? IMuch 
of this noise appears to be made for no other purpose than 
to keep up a continual, senseless racket. I am ceitain I 
can never learn to like it." 

"Oh! 3^ou bear it very well," said the guide, " for a 
person of your age and habits. It will not be likely to 
annoy you after you once become accustomed to it." 

Garrison smiled incredulously ; Ixit, turning again to 
the crowns, he said, — 

" Some of these crowns are destitute of jewels, and 
others are adorned with vast numbers : what is the mean- 
ing of this? " 

"The jewels," said the guide, "are the souls they 
have saved, — for every soul a jewel ; and the great re- 

1 Rev. iv. 8-10. 



no GAEEISON IN HEAVEN. 

vivalists, as you probably have coojectured, will be the 
ones to wear these blazing crowns. This [taking up a 
peculiar one] is the crown we have prepared for Moody 
the evangelist, whom you have no doubt seen." 

The crown was in the shape of a steeple, and was 
studded all over with very fine jewels. 

''What!" said Garrison, "has that man a crown? 
Why, a crown would be as much out of place on that 
man's head as a fashionable bonnet on the head of a 
monkey ! I do not doubt that the man is honest enough ; 
but he is wofully ignorant, and as superstitious as a 
Yeboo negro." 

" True," said the guide, " as far as science and worldly 
knowledge are concerned. But he is wise enough to win 
souls ; and that is the most important of all knowledge, 
or, at all events, that is what counts here." 

" But how do you know the number of jewels to put in 
his crown, since he is not dead yet? " 

" I will tell you. You have a Probabilities, who can 
tell the weather forty-eight hours beforehand. We have 
men who can tell, not what is probable, but what is cer- 
tain, years beforehand. We do not call them Probabili- 
ties, therefore, but Certainties. They know just how many 
souls each person will convert. Orders can thus be given 
to the jewellers, and the crowns be provided that the soul- 
savers are to wear." 

" But I should think the jewellers would put larger gems 
into some of the crowns," remarked Garrison. "There 
is Moody's crown, for instance, in which the jewels are 
as fine as sand-grains. If some of them were of large 
size, the crown would look much better." 

"True," was the reply again; "but the size of the 
jewel is proportioned to the size of the soul that is saved. 



A DEEAM. 31 

Nearly all the souls that are saved through Moody's 
preaching are small, aud the gems in his crown are small 
as a consequence. He has scarcely any influence, as you 
may know, with men and women of enlarged minds and 
sound judgment. Such persons seem to imagine, that 
because his preaching is foolish, and his conclusions un- 
reasonable, they do right to reject them. But you know 
the apostle said, ' It pleased God by the foolishness of 
preaching to save them that believe.' ^ And the mort« 
foolish and unreasonable the preaching, the more sure tho 
salvation. For the faith that can accept such preaching 
without question of its Divine authority can laugh at all 
impossibilities with the greatest ease." 

For the first time I now saw Garrison turn toward the 
guide a searching glance, as if he would learn what man- 
ner of spirit animated the being before him ; but the 
countenance of that dignitary was as serene as the surface 
of the Sea of Glass, and almost as expressionless : so Gar- 
rison merely remarked, — 

" Now that I am here among the crowns, let me inquire 
if you have a crown for Joseph Cook." 

" Certainly ! I can show it to you," the guide answered ; 
and as he spoke he took down an immense affair : it was 
nearly as large as a bushel basket. 

"What a size!" exclaimed Garrison. "Why did 
you make it so large?" 

"Nothing smaller would satisfy Flavins Josephus 
Cook," the guide said. 

The crown, however, was destitute of all jewels ; and in 
my dream I wondered at this, and was glad to hear tlie 
guide say to Garrison, "I see you wonder because there 
are no stars in this crown ; for they would add much to its 

1 1 Cor. i. 21. 



32 GARRISON IN HEAVEN. 

beauty. I told 3^011 a while ago, that, for every soul saved, 
a jewel was placed in the crown of the saver : it is equally 
true, that, for every soul lost in consequence of any action 
on thp part of a crown-wearer, a jewel is taken from liifj 
crown. Our Certainties tell us that Cook, before his death, 
by dabbling in Spiritualism and science, will cause the 
damnation of quite as many as he will save ; and, therefore, 
in spite of his tremendous physical efforts, which would 
weary any gymnast, and his mental acrobatic perform- 
ances, which the Apostle to the Gentiles never began to 
equal, he must forever wear a starless crown." 

" Now I think of it," said Garrison, " I should like to 
see Talmadge's crown ; for I suppose he will have one." 
To my great surprise, the guide stammered, and absolutely 
blushed, as he said, — 

"Well, the fact of the case is, Talmadge is a clerical 
comet; and our Certainties have not yet calculated the 
whole of his orbit. Isaiah worked at him for some time, 
assisted by Sir Isaac Newton, who is connected with that 
department ; but they find him a particularly hard case. It 
seemed at one time as if he would have a crown as full of 
stars as the milky way ; but it is a question now whether 
he will ever wear a crown here at all. My private opinion 
is, that, if he even gets an entrance hrre, it will be by the 
skin of his teeth." 

By this time both Garrison and the guide began to feel 
the need of food ; for, with the exception of a little fruit 
and water, they had not eaten any thing for several hours. 
The guide now conducted him down a kind of Broadway, 
called Paradise Street, till they came to a magnificent 
eating-establishment, where there were tables set for at 
least ten thousand. 

" This," said the guide, " is one of the singers' restau- 
rants, where we can find something good, I dare say." 



A DREAM. 83 

When they entered this saloon, I saw the guide glance 
proudly around the gorgeously appointed apartment, and 
then at Garrison, as if expecting to see him enchanted 
by its glittering glories. But the dazzling splendors of 
the place did not seem to surprise him in the least ; and I 
conjectured that his mind was too much occupied by the 
terrible scenes he had so lately witnessed, even to notice 
them. I soon found this to be the case ; for as they 
passed into one of the long, broad aisles, he said to the 
guide, though his eyes were scarcely lifted from the pave- 
ment at his feet, — 

"What is the name of that mountain in the distance, 
that seems to rise directly out of j^onder place of agony ? ' ' 

"That is DO mountain," the guide answered. "It is 
the chimney of hell, or, as John the Revelator of your 
earth called it, ' the bottomless pit.' " 

" The chimney of hell ! " responded Garrison, as if the 
thought were entirely, new to him. "But why did you 
build it'so high? " he inquired. 

"Oh! it is none too high, I assure you," was the an- 
swer. ' ' The upper windows of our mansions are at a great 
height, as you must see ; and the heavy smoke and gases 
from 'the lake of everlasting burning' sometimes settle 
very near to them even now. But heaven itself would be 
intolerable, were those offensive vapors to enter and defile 
it ; and It ^ould be impossible to prevent this, were they 
not carried to a great distance." 

" I suppose you are right," Garrison said thoughtfully. 
"But what an enormous structure! Do you know its 
exact dimensions? " 

"Its height above the surface of the lake of fire and 
brimstone," the guide answered, "is five thousand miles ; 
and our celestial architects assure us that it extends jusl 



84 GARRISON IN HEAVEN. 

twice as far, or ten thousand miles below the surface of 
that lake. It is divided into sections of one hundred 
miles each ; and the space enclosed by every section is a 
perfect cube, or is one hundred miles long, one hundred 
miles broad, and one hundred miles deep." 

" Wliy should it extend below the surface? " Garrison 
asked. 

*' Because being bottomless, that is, having no founda- 
tion in fact, it could not otherwise support the enormous 
height," was the reply. 

Garrison did not appear to notice the peculiar emphasis 
in which this answer was given, nor the particular point 
which the answer contained ; and as they took their seats 
at one of the thousand tables that reflected overhanging 
vines and flowers, until the very tables themselves ap- 
peared to be beds of immortal bloom, he said, — 

" John the Revelator called the bottomless pit a prison. 
I suppose he must have been mistaken." 

''Oh, no!" was the reply. "It is called by various 
names, because its several sections are used for various 
purposes. The prison, for instance, was the section in 
which Satan was confined, as you will remember, bound 
hand and foot, for a thousand years. A prison indeed, to 
him, poor fellow ! But you may also remember, that, 
even in the Revelator's time, Apollyon had rendered 
the upper section famous by his wonderful success in the 
propagation of locusts. You would be surprised to 
Be(; the great number of varieties he has succeeded 
in establishing. It was because of his great success 
in this department that they made him king over these 
insects. Some of the earlier forms produced under his 
management are very well described by the Divine Nov- 
elist.^ But that was only the beginning. He has de- 

» Rev. ix. 1-11. 



A DREAM. 35 

veloped some surprising results since then. Especially 
since hs has taken advantage of Darwin's discoveries in 
natural selection, these results have been most astonish- 
ing. I believe he has never exhibited any of these in- 
sects on your earth since the time of which the Revelator 
wrote. He did not find it very profitable at that time. 
Very few of the people seemed to appreciate his labors. 
Many of them appeared to have a superstitious fear of 
the poor creatures, and would not attend his exhibitions. 
Beside that, several of the finer specimens esca^xid alto- 
gether ; and he was never able to recapture them, or to 
procure their return. It is said, however, by some of 
the saints who have come here more recently from that 
planet, that the people there are at present much better 
prepared to appreciate such labors than they were in the 
days of John. Should ApoUyon find this report to be 
correct, he may conclude to give other exhibitions there, 
as the Revelator advertised : otherwise he probably will 
not attempt it again."' 

While they still sat waiting tor the meal the guide had 
ordered. Garrison picked up a paper that lay on the crys- 
tal table, and I took the opportunity to examine it as he 
turned over its pages. I saw that it was " The Celestial 
Gazette," having a circulation of a trillion copies. Moses 
was the editor, assisted by Job, who doubtless found in 
that kind of '.vork an excellent opportunity for the exer- 
cise of all his patience. Among the contributors I found 
there were many persons whose names are well known in 
the orthodox world. As usual, John the Revelator fur- 
nished the continuous romance, and Jonah had charge of 
the natural history department. There were songs by 
Solomon, hymns by Dr. Watts, poems by Cowper ; and 
Pollok was running through its pages a poem entitled 



3t GARRISON IN HEAVEN. 

*'The Course of Eternity." The items refeiriDg to our 
planet interested me most. This was one : — 

" Ingeksoll. 

IngersoU continues his heaven-clef jing lectures, and 
what is most interesting to him, and most disastrous to 
us, he makes them pay ; but we are preparing a mansion 
for him, compared with which hell itself will be heaven. 
Every soul lost through his instrumentality will be a fiery 
brand to scorch him ; and when he lectures there, his 
jokes will be lost in the howls of the damned that will 
forever writhe in agony around him." 

Boston was noticed in an article headed, 

" AYoKSE THAN Sodom. 

Boston continues as fearless of hell, and defiant of 
heaven, as it was in the days of Parker : nay, it is more 
so. The sabbath is constantly desecrated by museums, li- 
braries, and concerts. An infidel temple has been erected ; 
jind where once there was one Parker, there are now a 
hundred, either preaching damnable heresies, or preparing 
to preach them. Our servants are laboring, some of them 
frantically laboring, but with as little effect upon infidels 
as St. Anthony's preaching had upon the fishes ; and 
nothing short of an earthquake that shall swallow it up 
will stay its hellward career. How long, O Lord, how 
long ? ' ' 

Another singular item was about 

" Bkeciier. 

Beecher, that hoary old infidel and hypocrite, still con- 
Unues to drive Plymouth Church to destruction, n'j fast 
as the wheels of the coach, and the condition of the roads, 



A DREAltf. 37 

'¥ill peiinit. The worst is, that thousands of other drivers, 
i;eeing him ahead, think the road must lead to heaven ; 
and, with cracking whips and loud cries, they are driving 
after huu, bden with precious souls who are being hurried 
to their doom." 

A little farther on I read, — 

* ' The End of the World 

draws near, and the saints will soon behold a glorious 
spectacle. A few months will see the sun grow dark, 
the moon turn to blood, and the stars, like worm-eaten 
apples, drop to the earth. The gospel has been preached 
for a witness in all nations. The number of the elect is 
nearly made up ; the cup of iniquity is full to the brim ; 
Ihe trumpet is now ready, and Gabriel is practising for 
that blast, which the dead, and even the dead dissolved 
to dust, shall hear. 

''Among 'the signs of the times' w^hich indicate the 
near approach of that great day, one of the most important 
to us is the suicidal efforts of the saints on earth to, 

"Correct the Word of God. 

Without question, this is the most disastrous move- 
ment that our forces on that planet have ever made. The 
picture is indeed appalling. The fact that infidelity, with 
unblushing front, charges fraud and falsehood in the pro- 
duction of that sacred volume, renders this an effort un- 
paralleled in any other age. With their lips the saints 
deny the truth of these charges ; but they convict them- 
selves of falsehood by this endeavor to rectify its mis- 
takes and to improve its teachings. If the occupant of 
yonder throne shall permit this cowardly confession of 
weakness and crime on the part of his saints on earth, 



88 GARRISON IN HEAVEN. 

he mijst expect to see his army in heaven disheartened. 
That Beelzebub will be greatly encouraged thereby, if 
not actually re-enforced by thousands of troops from our 
own ranks, there cannot be a reasonable doubt. Is Jeho- 
vah indifferent to results like these, that he permits this 
work of madness? The saints complain that they ar3 
being driven to this extremity by the mercilessness C/f 
what is termed on earth ' modern criticism.' Why does not 
God confound the language of the modern critics, as he 
confounded the speech of the builders at the Tower of 
Babel? One by one, through many ages, we have seen 
his promises fail : nevertheless we trusted, that, for his own 
name's sake, he would prevent any further profanation 
of 'the Record of His Will.' Why does he not veil the 
sun and moon in sackcloth as an evidence of his displeas- 
ure? Again and again, in previous issues of this journal, 
we have pointed out to him the necessity for immediate 
action, if he would preserve untarnished the ancient glory 
of his name. Is it through the infirmities of age, or the 
fear of defeat, or the love of ease, that he thus hesitates ? 

* ' The Work of Revision 

is now nearing completion, and as yet no note of warning 
has been sounded from these sliores. How unlike his 
methods of the earlier times ! Well do we remember the 
frightful plagues under which Egypt groaned by reason 
of his displeasure with her king. How triumphantly, in 
those days, did lie work his will on the earth with famine 
and pestilence, fire and sword ! And how frequently he 
went down there to look after the interests of his king- 
dom, appearing to his saints in their dreams and visions, 
and showing them signs and wonders ! But the change 
since then is evident to us all. What has produced it? 



A DEEAM. 39 

Through many generations, with painful solicitude, we 

have marked the fading glory of his greatness, the steady 

loosening of the reins of his authority, the gradual failure 

of his faculties, the certain indications of slow but sure 

decay. We repeat, the change is evident. And again we 

ask, 

''What has produced it? 

" In the very dust of humiliation, and with inexpressible 
sorrow of soul, we charge this change to the demoralizing 
influence of that one hour of guilty dalliance with the 
mother of his earth-born son. 

"It is said, 'Even a God may not reverse a God's 
decree.' Could, then, Jehovah commit that nameless 
crime with one of his own daughters, and remain guiltless? 
One fact will suffice for answer. From that sin-stained 
hour to the present, he has never set himself to the 
accomplishment of any great purpose, either on earth or in 
heaven. Verily, to him, as to all others, ' the wages of 

sin is DEATH. ' 

' ' We make these charges with a penetrating sense of 
the responsibility we thereby assume, and keenly conscious 
of the sufferings to which, in all probability, we subject 
ourselves by so doing. But too long already we have 
sacrificed our self-respect to the customary obsequiousness 
of these realms ; and we are now resolved, whatever the 
personal risk, henceforth and forever to be governed 
solely by our own convictions of truth and justice. In 
accordance with this resolve, we ask, 

"By WHAT RIGHT, 

human or divine, did he violate his own laws, and dis- 
honor that young Jewish maiden? Did He forget the 
commandments he himself gave us, amid thunderings and 



40 GARRISON IN HEAVEN. 

lightnings and voices, on the mountain of Sinai? What 
can he answer? " — 

While I was reading the above fearless criticism, I 
heard Garrison exclaim, — 

"Heaven is everywhere a surprise to me. Who is 
Hoses, the editor of this ' Gazette ' ? " 

"Why, the man who led the children of Israel out of 
ihe land of Egypt, to be sure ! " the guide answered. 

"I should like to see him. This is the first manifesta- 
tion of a noble and manly independence that I have seen 
fiince I came here," Garrison said with evident emotion. 

"Hush, hush!" the guide whispered, scarcely above 
his breath ; and, drawing his chair very near to Garrison's, 
he continued, "You have been reading those allegations 
against Jehovah, I suppose." 

"I have," said Garrison; " and I am anxious to see 
how he will meet them." 

' ' We must be careful how we speak of Moses now 
and here," the guide said in the same voiceless whisper. 
" You cannot see him now, nor would you wish to do so if 
you could ; ' ' and I noticed that his face wore a sorrowful 
expression, while his whole manner had suddenly become 
full of seriousness. 

"You speak in riddles," said Garrison. "What is 
it?" 

"Peter's command at the gate was to give you any 
information you may desire," was the answer; "but, in- 
deed, you must not repeat this story without his especial 
permission." 

"I have seen no one here to whom I shajl be likely to 
speak in confidence," Garrison answered. 

" You will understand, then," resumed the guide, " that 
this Moses commenced the publication of ' The Celestial 



A DEE AM. 41 

Gazette ' about four thousand years ago . It may be a 
little loQgcr ago than that (there is some dispute about 
the date, I believe); but that does uot matter. Of course, 
at the begiuning it was very far from being what it is 
now. Bat it has at all times been noted for its fearless 
advocacy of exact justice, even to giving up an eye for 
an eye, or a tooth for a tooth, in order to satisfy every 
just demand. This advocacy has drawn to his side a 
very strong and substantial part}^, and one on which he 
can count with a great deal of certainty. 

**But Moses came here believing in o?ie, and only one^ 
' True God ; ' and it is no secret among the older inhabit- 
ants of heaven, that he bitterly opposed the proposition 
of Jehovah to share the honors of His throne and court 
with another, and especially with an earth-born son : in 
short, it is said that he denounced the whole transaction 
as essentially heathenish. After its accomplishment, 
however, the circumstance never drew from him the 
slightest recognition, either in ' The Gazette ' or elsewhere, 
until the appearance of those charges in the issue of this 
morning. 

" It has often been remarked here, that Moses' manner 
toward both the maiden mother and her son was marked 
by a tenderness as touching as that of a parent for a 
beloved child. For this reason, it was thought by many 
that he regarded the rejection of the son by the Jewish 
nation as a great crime. But who could have imagined, 
as is now evident, that it was because he held Jehovah 
guilty of crime in the matter of his intercourse with the 
mother? 

'•As might have been expected, those allegations, pre- 
forred in that serious and unequivocal manner, have creat- 
ed a profound sensation here. Yet it is probable, that 



42 GARRISON IN HEAVEN. 

by far the greater number of his subscribers, and perhapg 
many other spirits, share, in large measure, the same 
sentiments. Indeed, it is generally understood that the 
disaffected element has been greatly on the increase during 
several centuries past ; and, had not Moses been hurried 
off before his friends became aware of the intention td 
take him, I dare say there would have been another great 
war here. It is feared there may be trouble now, wheii 
his sentence shall become generally known." 

" What was his sentence? " Garrison asked. 

'' 7,777,777 years on the wall of hell. Seven sacred 
sevens, you will observe," was the reply; and I noticed 
that a very peculiar expression spread over the face of th»' 
guide as he said it. 

"That is a terrible sentence, if I may judge of th< 
place by the sights I have seen to-day," said Garrison. 
" What can he do there? " 

"The place is all that the sights you have seen to-daj 
indicate, I assure you," the guide said. "And his busi- 
ness, like that of all who receive a like sentence, is to 
stand on that wall day and night, and, with machinery 
provided for the purpose, to raise, and swing over the wall 
into that infernal pit, the enormous blocks of brimstone 
as they arrive there from Brimstone Quarry. If it were 
not for this constant supply of fresh fuel, the fires of hell 
would eventually burn out, and the place would cool off. 
In that case, hell would become 

* A land of pure delight,' 

as heaven now is ; and the bad spirits would be redeemed 
from that life of agony." 

Here, again, I saw Garrison look up at the guide with 
the same expression of half surprise and half inquiry that 



A DREAM. 43 

I had once before noticed. He evidently sought in the 
expression of the guide's countenance a solution of the 
problem regarding his true character, which his remarks 
had more than once suggested. But again he could dis- 
cover only that peculiar look of innocence which betrays 
nothing of the life within, and he said reflectively, — 

" It would require a very large force of human beings to 
supply such a gulf as that with burning brimstone. Are 
there many spirits employed there ? ' ' 

"The number employed is 7,777,777; and they must 
work night and day during the term for which they are 
sentenced," the guide said. 

"Seven shameful sevens again!" said Garrison with 
compressed lips, no longer able to disguise his indigna- 
tion, either by look or word. 

Without heeding the interruption, the guide continued, — 

"The number is never lessened, and never increased. 
Whenever a new offender is sent there, some one whose 
term has already expired is released ; but no one is ever 
permitted to leave until another is sent to take his place. 

' ' This is the most fearful form of punishment that 
heaven can inflict this side of hell itself. On that wall 
the smoke and heat are scarcely less terrible than is the 
fiery flood below : indeed, the blocks of brimstone often 
melt, and run in streams, besmearing all in contact with 
them with liquid heat, long before the wall is reacned. 
The difference in favor of this punishment, as compared 
with hell itself, is, that even all these years must some 
time pass away ; and, should there be no renewal of the 
sentence, he can then bathe again in the fountain of blood, 
and joyfully retrace his steps back to the throne of God." 

" Only to be sent there again, I suppose, if he should 
again dure to speak or print what he believes," Garrison 
said with indignant emphasis. 



44 GARKISON IN HEAVEN. 

*' It will never do to speak what we believe here, unless 
we can believe as the ruling class directs," the guide 
remarked. 

'' The ruling class ? Does not the Almighty rule here ? '* 
asived Garrison. 

"Formerly I dare say he did. He does little now, 
however, as you must have observed, but listen to the 
prayers and praises of the saints ; while for nearly two 
thousand years the priests from your earth have had 
things pretty much their own way," was the reply. 

"That accounts for it! That accounts for it!" ex- 
claimed Garrison, a new light, as if the problem were at 
last solved for him, breaking over his countenance. "I 
can understand it all now. Ah ! a priest is a priest, find 
him when and where you will." 

" Yes," was the reply, " whether on earth or in heaven, 
his aspirations and his schemes have the same general 
character, and are directed to the same selfish ends." 

By this time they had finished their meal ; and the 
guide said, resuming at the same time his less serious 
manner, ' ' Now I will show you the room that has been 
provided for you : it is in the four hundred and forty 
thousandth story." Seeing Garrison stand aghast, he 
added, "There is a magnificent view, and we can take 
you up in our lightning elevator, quick as a flash." Up 
they went, and the guide showed him the prospect. It 
was indeed delightful. In the distance lay the Delectable 
Mountains, with verdant forests clothinj^ their sides : lakes 
innumerable reflected the dazzling divine light which for- 
ever rayed from Him that sat on the throne, the sun of 
heaven. 

" Here," said the guide, " you can enjoy yourself, and 
take solid comfort. When you feel like it, you can come 



A DEEAM. 45 

down and hear the music, or join the band, and you will 
find good meals on Paradise Street, where we were : don't 
forget the number, 90,000,871." But I saw that this was 
not at all in accordance with Garrison's plans. 

"Cannot I have a room on the ground-floor?" lie 
intjiiired. 

"I suppose you can," was the guide's reply; " Ijut 
tliis is vastly preferable to any room there." 

''It may be," said Garrison; ''but I should greatly 
prefer to ]>e below." 

Eventually he secured a room in the south-east corner 
of heaven, as near to hell as he could possibly get. 

""1 cannot imagine why you should fancy this," was 
the remark of the guide as soon as tliey got in. "-'It is 
really the least comfortable room in the whole place, and 
when your windows are open, and the wind l>lows this way, 
you will wish yourself somewhere else. But every saint 
to his liking ! " And away went the guide. As soon as he 
was fairly out of hearing, I said, — 

"Garrison!" laying at the same time my hand upon 
his shoulder. He instantly turned, and exclaimed, — 

" What ! Denton, you here? " And, seizing my hand, 
he said, " I am glad to see you : 1 want your help." 

" Help for what? " I asked. 

"I will show you," he said. "I find we are needed 
here vastly more than on earth. I am going to start 
an underground railroad, and run in ever}^ soul from that 
infernal pit, and you must help me. We must empty 
Hell, and reform Heaven — and we will do it.'* 



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